Rome Shopping: Something Old, Something New
A designer vintage treasure trove, an irresistible boutique + hot tip for a rapid hem
Two of my favorite shops in Rome are a three-minute walk from one another. Dangerous.
Here’s the link to prove it. After-Christmas sales are on now, but these spots are great year-round.
Add them to your list, and stay tuned for more shopping from tastefully this month.
If you’re in Rome now, make extra space in your luggage, or start looking into maritime transport.
It’s saldi season!
Saldi is Italian for sales. From the Latin, saldare: to pay in completion, close the dept, etc., the word saldo, or saldi (plural) has evolved in meaning.
It refers to the vendors as they liquidate their stores in order to balance accounts and get back in the black, so to speak.
Speaking of which, Italians imported the Black Friday concept in recent years and apply it randomly starting around American Thanksgiving.
When you see ‘Black Week’ or ‘Black Month,’ just pull out your credit and don’t ask questions.
Saldi come but twice a year.
The nationwide discount shopping extravaganza starts with the new year and lasts for weeks.
Exact dates change from city to city, but you can count on all of January and into February, as well as mid-July through August for deals on everything including clothing, shoes, an accessories to home furnishings, gym memberships and beauty treatments.
My local centro estetico (literally “esthetic center”) is offering promotions on waxing and laser, toning massages, and brightening facials.
I couldn’t be happier or readier to drop some euros on questionable vibration-based body sculpting.
I spent the last few weeks in bad winter lighting, (my unibrow is out of hand), bad winter weather (barely run in weeks!), and a bad mood (fine lines and a bit ashy around the eyes).
Tell me I’m not alone in the comments. Please.
Now..on to the shopping tips!
Something Old: Vintage Treasures at Baba Styles
Barbara Manera moved to Rome for love.
I’m no stranger to that game, but Barbara’s tiny yet mighty vintage shop on secret-seeming Via del Cancello is also a love letter to fashion.
Born in Cuneo, in the northern Piemonte Region, Barbara spent 20 years in Monaco, working with runway shows and later managing a boutique. This explains her perfect French, her appreciation for high fashion, as well as her store’s name.
“In Monaco they used to call me Babá, as an affectionate nickname. It stuck with me,” she says.
The idea was to create a space for women who wanted to dress high fashion, very chic, from head to toe without spending too much money.
Barbara describes her vision. “It’s also a friendly environment. Customers feel at home. You can hang out for hours trying things on.”
Several of Barbara’s friends are former (and current clients). Spend a night out with the girls, and half of them have a tale of wondering into Baba Styles and the rest is history.
I was there on said girls’ night. This is verified intel.
Something New: Silly Closet Room
Alessandra Corsi and Silvia De Scisciolo’s love fashion in the contagious, non-pretentious way that reminds me of my most stylish girlfriends.
It’s no surprise the founders were best friends first.
The two met at a fundraiser while accompanying their husbands, and became besties pretty quickly. After working in sales for years, they both found themselves without a job. It took some convincing, but a vendor friend of theirs finally convinced the two to open their own boutique.
Silly Closet Room is partially inspired Silvia’s nickname—Silly. “The rest…” says Alessandra, “is just a super long story.”
They opened their doors in December of 2018 on Via della Scrofa in the heart of the centro storico, old city center.
Silly Closet Room was born out of love for fashion.
According to Alessandra, “Clothes should do more than just cover you up. They should enhance everything about you. Your everyday style can be simple, yet thoughtful, whether you’re at work or at play.”
The women share an ethos of fair pricing and quality. You can grab a pair of design socks or stockings for around €22, while separates and dresses rarely surpass €200. Coats and hand-knit sweater will run you a bit more.
“We select our collections carefully, with a nod to natural fibers and made-in-Italy craftsmanship that respects the time and skill required to do great work,” says Alessandra, including the jewelry.
Even the shoes are handmade, produced in the Marche region.
I discovered the store while shopping for something colorful for a photo shoot. A bold striped maxi dress in the window lured me in and the rest is history.
Hot Tip for a Quick Hem
The ladies at Silly Closet Room sent me to Orlo Jet for an emergency hem, and the expert tailors delivered!
Had I been a few hours earlier they could have done it same day. It was ready by 10am the next morning.
The prices are reasonable. Hems hover around €20 depending on fabric and complexity), and the staff is kind. I had the zipper replaced in a black catsuit and forgot about it for a year. I went back and there it was, a miracle in this business!
Orlo Jet
Via della Scrofa, 46
TEL + 06 06 687 3663
What a genuinly delightful guide! The framing of vintage and new as complmentary rather than competing is something I rarely see articulated this way, most people treat them as separate shopping universes. I had a similar experience stumbling into a small boutique in Barcelona where the owner had this uncanny ability to make discovering things feel special, not transactional. The saldi etymology detail adds such nice depth, dunno why more travel writers skip those linguistic connections.